Two Options
by Jason Thompson
Summary: When it comes to his Vulcan Science officer, Jonathan Archer figures he has two options.


Two Options  
An Enterprise Fanfiction Story  
Author: Jason Thompson  
pilamsega@yahoo.com  
September 27, 2001  
  
Disclaimer:Once upon a time there was a guy he wrote a story with characters and settings   
he didn't own, but he put a disclaimer on his story and that made it a little less illegal. Enterprise   
is owned by Rick Berman, Brannon Braga and Paramount Pictures.   
  
Category:Archer/T'Pol  
  
Spoilers:Some for Broken Bow  
  
Warnings:None  
  
Summary:When it comes to his Vulcan Science officer, Jonathan Archer figures he has two   
options.  
  
Rating:  
  
Distribution:Ask First.   
  
Notes:  
  
Dedication:Dedicated to the usual suspects; Bri, Mary, Duchess, Dale, Blaire, Stone Cold,   
Ice Wing, Arashi, Aslan, Vega, Jen Zimmer, Louise, Sairs, and Queen Angel who have allowed   
me to bounce my ideas off them, and Krac, cause she has the evil bunny slippers.  
  
Two Options  
  
Captain Jonathan Archer watched space warp in front of him, as the Enterprise traveled at a   
relative speed of more ten times the speed of light. No matter how many times he watched the   
view screen during Warp travel these last several weeks, he was amazed and awed. Little more   
than a century ago, man never would have dreamed of traveling at such a speed, and most said it   
was impossible to do so.  
  
"If they could see me now" was a phrase that came to mind at the moment. However, as fast as   
they were traveling, space was still unbelievably large and so the trip between inhabited systems   
was rather long, consisting of a lot of downtime. But even during the down time, the crew   
enjoyed watching the cosmos go by at thirty million kilometers per second. He could see the   
looks of wonder and pride on the faces of each of his bridge crew.  
  
Well, most of his bridge crew, there was one member of the bridge crew whose face was   
expressionless. As always. His Science Officer, his *Vulcan* Science Officer, T'Pol. How on   
Earth did he end up with a Vulcan on his crew? He'd spent most of his life quietly hating the   
Vulcans and all they stood for, every time he watched his father die a little inside when he   
couldn't see his engine actually be put to use, by the constant interference of the Vulcans.  
  
He didn't buy their claims of being emotionless, he'd seen Vulcans in action. They were   
condescending, conceited, and downright prejudiced against humans. They treated Humans like   
children, slow children at that. So he showed no patience with them or their Holier-than-thou   
attitude.   
  
When he met T'Pol, she fit his preconceptions of Vulcans to the proverbial T. He hadn't been   
exaggerating on how close he had been to knocking her on her ass that day. For that matter, there   
had been more than a couple of occasions that she'd tested his restraint. She was cold, arrogant,   
and treated every member of the crew, with the possible exception of Dr. Phlax, like a child in   
need of scolding.  
  
Then again, maybe he had to learn to be more accepting of alien life-forms, starting with his   
rather stunning Science Officer.   
  
Jonathan took a mental step backwards. Where did that thought come from? He shook his head,   
trying to dismiss the thought. Yet, it remained. It was a fact that he could not ignore. His   
Science Officer was very attractive, beautiful even. He was "only human," as the cliché goes. He   
had two functioning eyes, so her beauty was not lost on him.  
  
It also didn't hurt that she was so strong willed. He appreciated that in women to no end. He   
wanted a women who would challenge him, who'd call him on being wrong and who'd fight when   
she thought she was right. T'Pol was that, almost to an extreme. She was strong willed, almost to   
the point of insubordination…  
  
Archer stopped his train of thought. What it came down to, was that he had two options he was   
torn between when they were in the heat of argument, one he could hit her hard enough to put her   
through the bulkhead, and two, he could grab her and show her just how "unenlightened" the   
human mind was. Either would wipe that smug look out of her eyes. But neither would be too   
appropriate.  
  
It wasn't exactly against regs for officers to fraternize. But it definitely wasn't encouraged. That   
and he had no idea what the ramifications of a Vulcan and a Human having… now he was flat out   
getting ahead of himself. It was one thing to notice T'Pol's beauty, it was quite another to   
contemplate having sex with her.  
  
Hell, for that matter, who said Vulcans and Humans would be physically compatible? Then there   
were the rumors about Vulcans, that they only mated once every seven years with such intensity   
that it would likely kill a human… That was an interesting thought, it was frightening at the same   
time.  
  
Jonathan shook loose that train of thought and left the bridge. He needed a cold shower, too bad   
all he had was a sonic shower in his cabin. He'd have to settle for a stiff drink.  
  
He happened to make eye contact with T'Pol on his way out. She merely raised her eyebrow at   
him, in a word, T'Pol was fascinating. He turned and left the bridge for his cabin. When he was   
safely inside his cabin and the door was locked behind him, Jonathan sagged against the door, he   
was a horribly conflicted man.  
  
--End--  



End file.
